Night Terrors
by theanonymouslibrarians
Summary: Faquarl receives some unexpected visitors in the middle of the night. Companion fic to Small Talks and The Gift.


Night Terrors

By theanonymouslibrarians

Note: I do not own the Bartimaeus Sequence or any of its characters.

Djinn did not sleep. Not in the sense that humans and animals did. Oh, they drifted off now and then, some parts of their minds becoming less conscious than others, but the only times they were completely and entirely unconscious were when they were injured. But the thing about being in a human body was that there were several things Faquarl found he had to do now that he hadn't before. Some were annoying (using the toilet, for instance; why, oh why did something as lovely as eating have to be followed by the undignified emptying of one's bowels?), while others were pleasant. Sleep, undoubtedly fell into the latter category.

Faquarl found he rather enjoyed being able to just...just...stop for a while. It was almost like being home. The closest he came now days. He couldn't understand why he'd thought that going into...becoming one of...one of these _humans_ was a viable solution. But he had been in _so_ much pain. And _so_ tired and angry all of the time. And for a while, being in Hopkins body and planning to do something to stop their enslavement once and for all had helped. For a while. This, though, having to look into the mirror and see himself as what he hated the most... _this_ was worse. But when he slept, when he slept he could forget about the pain, about the anger, about the hopelessness. And he dreamt. Sometimes they were nice dreams. Sometimes they were nightmares. But always they were better than being awake. So Faquarl did not like it when something awoke him from is sleep.

For a moment, he wasn't sure why he'd woken up. Usually he slept for hours on end, but it hadn't even been one...and then it came again. A fervent pounding on his door. Now _that_ was surprising! Few people ever paid Faquarl visits. Mostly just Bartimaeus (and there had been those rather tasty Jehovah's witnesses), but _he_ would have been making considerably more noise than even _this_ caller by now.

The pounding came again. And again. And again. Faquarl growled, tossed off the covers, and stomped down out of his bedroom, down the stairs, and toward the front door. He peered through the key hole, not sure what he was expecting to see. What he saw, though, threw him for a moment. It was Bartimaeus' magician, his face pale, turning his face from the door to over his shoulder, and back again.

Faquarl unlocked the door and opened it. "Well, what-"

The magician shoved passed him, slamming the door behind him. "LOCK IT! LOCK IT! LOCK IT!"

Faquarl did so without hesitation. Despite his annoyance at being woken up, the things Bartimaeus and his little pets got up to were dangerous. And he didn't think that the human would come to him, especially not alone, unless absolutely necessary.

"Well?" Faquarl asked. He peered through the key hole again, but nothing out of the ordinary was visible on any of the planes. He turned to face the magician, who was leaning against the wall, breathing in short, rapid breaths. "What is it?"

"It...it..."

"Yes?" Faquarl said, impatiently. He was actually growing concerned now. He'd had ample time to observe Mandrake in multiple situations. Whatever else the magician was, he wasn't a coward. He'd faced down Nouda, and Lovelace, and several other adversaries without dissolving into this state.

"It has no _face_!"

Faquarl blinked at this. "Is that all? Surely you know that djinn often-"

"IT WASN'T A DJINNI!" Bartimaeus' magician shouted, and then closed his eyes trembling.

Silence filled the room. Dammnit, Faquarl wasn't good at this. Clearly Mandrake was in a state of shock, and Faquarl wouldn't get anything meaningful out of him until the man had calmed down. No doubt Bartimaeus would have scooped his pet into his arms and held him while he cried. Faquarl, though, wasn't about to do that. Partly because he didn't care about the human and partly because he wasn't used to comforting others, least of all magicians. Faquarl contemplated eating him. A nice midnight snack. It would allow him to go back to sleep and forget about this whole business. But no. Whatever was outside his door wouldn't go away, and Bartimaeus would eventually find out what had happened to his little pet. The other djinni _wouldn't_ be happy.

It had been a long time since Faquarl had felt terrified. Not just concerned or scared, but terrified. He couldn't remember how he'd dealt with that type of fear. Probably he'd just shaken it off and moved on. He was sure that he was supposed to say something soothing, but he couldn't think of anything. Still, the sooner the human calmed down, the sooner Faquarl could find out what they were dealing with. He moved past Mandrake and into the kitchen. The djinni kept a well-stocked liquor cabinet. He found that alcohol dulled the sense of emptiness. Pouring a glass for himself and another for the magician, he returned to the living room.

"Drink." He ordered, shoving the glass into the magician's hand. "And sit down."

"I sh-shouldn't-"

"I wasn't asking." Faquarl put a firm hand on the magician's shoulder and forced him toward one of the couches, dropping down onto the other one. He drank his own glass in one gulp and watched as the magician hesitantly sipped at his. And then he felt it. A tingling sensation. Something was trying to get in the front door. Faquarl glanced at the magician, who at last, seemed to be calming down enough to talk. Slowly, trying to keep his voice casual, Faquarl got to his feet. "So, why are you here? Why didn't you run to Bartimaeus? Where is he by the way? Usually the two of you are joined at the hip."

"Not...he was...at home, I think."

Faquarl slowly made his way toward the front door and looked through the peep hole. Well, _that_ was interesting. "Hmm...you're right. He's not a spirit."

"DON'T LET HIM IN!"

Faquarl snorted. "Contrary to what you may think, I don't usually let strange...beings into my house."

Being was the best word Faquarl had for the creature. It wasn't of this Earth. Or, he supposed it was, but it shouldn't have been. But it wasn't of the Other Place, either. The aura was...odd. Not human or animal or spirit. Of course there were things that didn't fit into any definable category, but they were rare. Faquarl couldn't remember ever seeing anything quite like this.

Whatever it was was humanoid in shape, but was far too tall to be any man. Its limbs were too long as well, stretching out from the body to test the wards. Most striking of all was the blank stretch of skin where a face should have been. Very odd.

Faquarl turned back to the magician. "Where did you pick _this_ thing up?"

"I...I was walking home from the library. Through the park. And I started hearing noises. And then I saw...your place was closer. I didn't know if I had time to make it to my flat. The way he moves...he's so fast!"

Faquarl ignored this. The thing had given up on getting through the door and had moved around to the side, trying its luck with the side. But the wards held there, too. And then the back door. And that told Faquarl all he needed to know. He started undoing the locks.

"You can't go out there!" Mandrake yelped. "We don't know what that thing is! We need to do research and...and-"  
"Touching as your concern is, if it was stronger than me it would be able to get through the wards. It's not about to go away on its own."

"But if it hurts you, what do you-"

Faquarl grabbed the keys off the hook and pocketed them. "Lock the door behind me." He didn't wait for a reply.

The being sensed him the moment he stepped outside. Or maybe it just heard the door. Whatever the case, he could hear it dashing around the house to meet him. And then there it was. Faquarl could feel the effect it had on Hopkin's body. A surge of adrenaline, which probably served to heighten its victims fear.

"Well, aren't _you_ a sight!"

The creature tilted its head slightly, as if in confusion. It was probably used to its victims succumbing to its psychotropic effects by now. But even if he was in a human vessel, Faquarl's mind was still that of a djinni. And powerful as this thing was when terrorizing bratty young magicians who were barely out of their adolescence, it paled in comparison to a high-level djinni.

"I want you to know that I _do_ sympathize with you. I really do. I've imagined killing the human myself quite a few times. Only, you see, I have a...well, a friend, I suppose, and he'd be absolutely devastated if the prat died."

The creature roared and its arms extended, shooting toward Faquarl. Only, Faquarl was too fast. They sliced right through the hedges next to the porch, though, another black mark on the creature's record.

"There's no need to be rude!"

The creature reached for him again, but this time Faquarl grabbed its arms. It tried to pull back, but it wasn't anywhere near strong enough to fight him. It took several more bites than Faquarl was accustomed to needing to finish it off. The pity about being in a vessel was that Hopkins' mouth could only open so wide. But then it was done.

When Faquarl reentered the room, he was pleased to see that Mandrake had gathered his courage again and was standing at the back of the room, holding a butcher's knife.

"You can put that back. It's dead."

"Dead?" The magician squawked, in what sounded suspiciously like disbelief. "What do you mean dead?"

Faquarl would have been offended if it had come from someone who had any idea what he was talking about. As it was, "I mean dead." He said, dryly. "Gone. He exists no more."

"But how...how did you?"

"I ate him. I'm not sure what he was, but...oh, don't give me that look!" Faquarl rolled his eyes. "I've worked in enough kitchens to know that you humans are in no place to judge when it comes to diet.

The human looked like he wanted to argue, but swallowed whatever he was going to say. "Look...Faquarl...thank you..."

"Yes, yes." Faquarl waved a hand. "You'd be dead without me. You're forever in my debt. I know."

"I wasn't going to say-"

"Now, if you don't mind it's..." He glanced at the clock. "3:40. Nothing's waiting to kill you outside. You can go home now. Or call Bartimaeus to fetch you. Or wait until morning. I don't really care which. But I'm going back to bed."


End file.
